1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable terminal. More particularly, the present invention relates to a waterproof structure in a portable terminal including a pair of housings provided in wiring for interconnecting circuit devices installed in the housings.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a “portable terminal” refers to an apparatus carried with a user to perform communication with another user or a mobile communication service provider. The term “portable terminal” also refers to an apparatus providing a particular function, such as outputting an electronic note, providing a portable game console, or a multimedia player, etc., in addition a communication apparatus for providing the aforementioned mobile communication functions.
Based on their outward appearance, such portable terminals can be classified into, for example, bar-type terminals, flip-type terminals, folder-type terminals, and sliding-type terminals.
The bar-type terminal typically has a simple structure in which input/output devices are mounted in a single housing. Recently, there has emerged a terminal structured such that a keypad and a display device are implemented with a touch screen, and transmitting and receiving units are disposed at both sides of the touch screen, respectively. Such bar-type terminals permit both a communication function and a multimedia function to be used in a single terminal with ease.
The flip-type terminal is structured such that a flip for opening or closing an input device, such as a keypad installed on a bar-type terminal, thereby preventing malfunction of the input device. As input/output devices become implementable with a touch screen, the flip-type terminal is gradually disappearing from the market.
The folder-type or sliding-type terminal can be carried with a pair of housings overlapping each other, and can be opened or closed by folding/unfolding one of the housings by rotation relative to the other or by sliding the housing relative to the other. The folder-type or sliding-type terminal includes various arrangements of input/output devices based on of a pair of housings, and is easy to carry because the housings overlap each other during the carrying.
As a mobile communication services using the portable terminals have been diversified to include multimedia contents, such as games, moving pictures, and broadcasting, causing the portable terminals to come into widespread use by significant portions of the population. The widespread use of the portable terminals has also caused a trend in which users of the portable terminals value the terminals as personal ornaments in addition for use with services provided through the portable terminals.
As users carry portable terminals most of the time, and now that some of the users consider their portable terminal to also function as ornaments, interest in waterproofing the portable terminal is increasing. In a portable terminal having a single housing, such as a bar-type terminal, a waterproof structure can be provided by using a sealing member, such as a double-sided tape, or a gasket arranged only on bonded portions between cases of the housing and bonded portions between a window and the case installed in positions corresponding to a display device. However, a separate waterproof structure has to be provided to a speaker phone or a microphone.
On the other hand, in a portable terminal having a pair of housings, such as a folder-type terminal, circuit devices installed in the respective housings are interconnected by using a flexible printed circuit. In a path for wiring the flexible printed circuit, many difficulties exist in providing a waterproof structure.